1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robotic system that moves a surgical instrument in response to voice commands from the user.
2. Description of Related Art
To reduce the invasiveness of surgery, endoscopes are commonly utilized to view the internal organs of a patient. One end of the endoscope contains a lens which is inserted into the patient through a small incision in the skin. The lens focuses an image that is transmitted by fiber optic cable to a camera located at the opposite end of the endoscope. The camera is coupled to a monitor that displays the image of the patient.
The endoscope can be used in conjunction with another surgical instrument that is inserted into the patient. An assistant typically hold the endoscope while the surgeon manipulates the surgical instrument. The assistant moves the endoscope in response to instructions from the surgeon. Any miscommunication between the surgeon and the assistant may result in an error in the movement of the endoscope, thereby requiring the surgeon to repeat the instruction. Additionally, holding the endoscope for a significant amount of time may cause the assistant to become fatigued.
U.S. application Ser. No. 07/927,801 discloses a robotic arm that holds and moves an endoscope. The surgeon can move the robotic arm by depressing a foot pedal. The foot pedal is connected to a computer which moves the arm and the scope. Although the ""801 system effectively moves the endoscope, the surgeon must continually manipulate the foot pedal, a process which may detract from the surgical procedure. It would be desirable to provide a robotic endoscopic system that can be controlled by voice commands from the user.
The present invention is a robotic system which controls the movement of a surgical instrument in response to voice commands from the user. The robotic system has a computer controlled arm that holds the surgical instrument. The user provides voice commands to the computer through a microphone. The computer contains a phrase recognizer that matches the user""s speech with words stored in the computer. Matched words are then processed to determine whether the user has spoken a robot command. If the user has spoken a recognized robot command the computer will move the robotic arm in accordance with the command.